


Not by Chance, but by Destiny

by Emrys MK (mk_malfoy)



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Reincarnation, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:40:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25790716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mk_malfoy/pseuds/Emrys%20MK
Summary: Merlin is having a really bad day, but an encounter with someone he has missed for almost 1500 years, a meeting that was not at all by chance, changes everything, and life will never be the same.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 101
Collections: Kinkalot 2020





	Not by Chance, but by Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> 2020 Kinkalot Bingo fill for Hurt/Comfort.
> 
> Disclaimer: Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

As if the first day of uni wasn’t stressful enough for Merlin—his alarm hadn’t gone off and he’d been late for his first class, lunch had been a complete failure when he’d flirted with a bloke he thought was gay (he hadn’t been), and his mum had called to say his uncle wasn’t doing well—now he was staring at someone he had last seen over 1492 years ago.

It couldn’t be.

“You look like you just saw a ghost, mate,” bloke-who-looked-like-Arthur-Pendragon said as he lifted his rucksack from the floor and threw it over his shoulder. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Merlin shook his head. “N-No, it’s fine. Not your fault. As usual, I wasn’t looking where I was going. Sorry for running into you.” Merlin couldn’t take his eyes away from the beautiful blue irises before him. He had missed them so very much. 

Wait, what was he thinking? Maybe this wasn’t even Arthur. There had to be people throughout the ages that looked like someone who had come before them. Right? Yes. It was just that Merlin wanted this to be his Arthur so very badly. He wanted Arthur to look at him and hug him and tell him that he had missed him. He wanted. He wanted… Arthur. He had wanted Arthur for nearly 1500 years.

“You aren’t by chance going here for your next class, are you?” Blond-bloke-with-blue-eyes-who-looked-like-the-once-and-future-king-but-probably-wasn’t asked, grinning, that familiar smile bringing back far too many emotions.

Merlin swallowed and nodded. “Yeah. Wish I wasn’t. Maths and me do not at all get along.” 

“Maybe I can help you out then. Maths and I get along well.” Arthur's lookalike stuck out his hand. “Arthur Pendragon. Nice to meet you.”

Merlin took the offered hand, barely able to keep the gasp from escaping. This was really Arthur. It had to be. But _this_ Arthur Pendragon probably had no idea who Merlin was. “Merlin Emrys, nerd extraordinaire. Nice to meet you as well.” Merlin felt himself beginning to shake.

“Merlin. Your name is Merlin,” Arthur said rather slowly, his face losing just about all its color.

“Erm, yes, that’s the name my mum gave me. Why?” Of course, Merlin knew why. It was obvious. He’d grown up with the jokes about his name, and paired with Arthur, well, he guessed there was more of that in his future. There had been a time he’d thought it fun, but now it was rather tiresome. 

Arthur looked extremely uncomfortable. “I’m not sure I should say anything. You’ll think I’m touched in the head or something and I’d rather you not think that way about me.” 

Was that a blush on Arthur’s face? Merlin grinned. Well, it seemed that this Arthur, regardless of what he did or did not remember about his past life as a king, liked Merlin, so that was something positive, right? “I think you should say. If we are going to stand here and flirt with each other, and if you want this to go any further, I want to know why you asked about my name.” Merlin stared at Arthur, proud of himself for standing up to him. It was so very reminiscent of times gone by.

Arthur looked completely out of place as he nervously looked around him. “We should probably go into the classroom. We still have time to talk before class begins.”

Once they were seated at the back of the room, Merlin cleared his throat and gave his most innocent _I’m waiting_ look. 

“Do you believe in reincarnation, Merlin?” Arthur asked in little more than a whisper.

Merlin nodded, not daring to speak.

Arthur looked relieved. “Well, you didn’t laugh, so that’s something. I thought surely you would. Maybe you should. Bloody hell, this is all so mad. I can’t even believe I am saying this. I should probably stop right now. If my father heard me spouting such nonsense he would, well, he wouldn’t be happy.”

Merlin hated how sad Arthur looked. It seemed Uther Pendragon was still wreaking family havoc all these years later. “Erm, no, I don’t think you should stop,” Merlin said, cheekily, to cover up the urgency he felt. “If it makes you feel any better, my mum and uncle raised me to believe in reincarnation and magic. You could say we are a bit on the eccentric side.”

Arthur let out a chuckle. “Precisely the type of people my father does his best to keep me away from. If it were up to him I’d be a carbon copy of him. The dutiful son who asks no questions.”

It was now Merlin’s number one mission to take that frown off of Arthur’s face. “Well, your father is not here, so he’ll not need to know that I have corrupted you. So tell me why you asked about reincarnation.”

Arthur sighed. “My mate Leon told me years ago he thought he had been a knight at my roundtable. I thought he was just having me on, because you know, me, the king of Camelot just seemed ludicrous and all, and I thought he was merely trying to make me laugh and not be so stressed about life, but yesterday he said he had seen you and that he was almost positive you had once been my manservant. I actually laughed at him, but he told me he was serious and that I’d see for myself soon enough.”

Merlin took a deep breath. “Does this Leon have any other memories?” he asked curiously.

“Yeah, lots. Of course I thought they were all just his imagination, but now I’m not so sure.”

“But you have no memories of you as King Arthur?” Merlin asked.

Arthur shook his head disappointingly. “Do you have any memories of being Merlin?” The way Arthur looked at Merlin, so intent, with so much hope… he very much wanted this to be true.

“Yeah, I do, Arthur,” Merlin answered in barely more than a whisper. 

Arthur swallowed, his gulp audible. “And do you have memories of me?”

Again, Merlin nodded.

“You were my manservant?”

“Yes.” Merlin began to tremble. “You were my king.” And damn it all, Merlin had to work hard not to cry. 

Arthur wiped his eyes and looked around him before turning back towards Merlin. “I don’t know about you, but I think we need to get out of here and go somewhere more private.”

“Yeah,” was Merlin’s breathy reply, and within a few seconds they were running out of the room, ignoring the stares a few of the others gave them.

Merlin ran after Arthur into the car park and hopped into the passenger side of the black sleek sports car. Normally he would stop for a moment and admire such a beauty and maybe pout a bit because all he had was an old beat up car his uncle had given him when he left school, but at the moment all he wanted to do was stare at Arthur and soak him in.

Arthur sat in the driver’s seat, leant his head against the headrest, and closed his eyes. “Were we more?” he finally asked, slowly turning his head to look at Merlin. When he opened his eyes, a tear fell. “Were we lovers?”

Merlin couldn’t help the sob that he let out. He shook his head. “You were married to a beautiful woman called Guinevere..”

“Did we have children?”

Merlin turned towards his window, unable to look at Arthur at the moment. This was surreal. “No.”

“This version of me prefers men.”

Merlin let out a laugh as he turned back towards Arthur. “Both my then and now version prefer men. Gods, you don’t know how hard it was for me to watch you and Gwen get married. She was one of my dearest friends, and I loved her, but she had what I wanted.” Once said, Merlin worried perhaps he had gone too far.

“Well, I don’t know how or where or if Gwen fits into my life now, but I do know that I can’t imagine being with anyone other than you. Gods I know this has to sound weird. I am still not sure this isn’t a dream, but if you want to try, I want to see where we can go from here.”

Merlin felt the tears as they fell freely down his face and he didn’t even try to stop them. He nodded. 

“Come here,” Arthur said, and he pulled Merlin into his arms and hugged him for dear life, but the hug quickly turned into more.

Merlin gave himself over to the kisses. He pulled back just enough to give Arthur access to his shirt, and moaned when Arthur lifted said shirt and dove in to suck on one of his nipples. “Fuck me, Arthur,” Merlin groaned.

Twenty minutes later, in the sitting room of his father’s house, Arthur swallowed Merlin’s cock and shushed him, not quite ready to introduce his boyfriend called Merlin.


End file.
